The story of a candy rabbit

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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES

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5TORY OF

A CANDY

LAURA LEE HOPE

THE MAKE-BELIEVE STORIE;

THE STOEY OF
A CANDY RABBIT

MAKE BELIEVE STORIES

(Trademark Registered)

THE STORY OF A

CANDY
RABBIT

BY

LAURA LEE HOPE

AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL," "THE STORY

OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES,"

"THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES," "THE Six LITTLE

BUNKERS SERIES," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY

HARRY L. SMITH

NEW YORK

GROSSET & DUNLAP

PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America

994829A

COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP
THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I Is HE IN FAIRYLAND? . . 1

II THE RABBIT'S NEW HOME . 13

III THE BAD CAT 27

IV UP IN THE AIR .... 38
V THE ORGAN GRINDER ... 50

VI THE PEDDLER'S BASKET . . 65

VII IN THE BATHTUB .... 74

VIII IN A WHEELBARROW ... 84

IX AT THE PARTY 94

X IN A BOY'S POCKET ... 107

Ob

cri

THE STORY OF
A CANDY RABBIT

CHAPTER I

IS HE IN FAIRYLAND?

THE Candy Rabbit sat up on his hind
legs and looked around. Then he rubbed
his pink glass eyes with his front paws.
He rubbed his eyes once, he rubbed them
twice, he rubbed them three times.

"No, I am not asleep ! I am not dream-
ing,'* said the Candy Rabbit, speaking to
himself in a low voice. 1 1 1 am wide awake,
but what strange things I see ! I wonder
what it all means!'1

On one side of the Candy Rabbit was a
large egg. It was larger than any egg the
Candy Rabbit had ever seen, and there

1

2 A CANDY RABBIT

was a little glass window in one end of
the egg.

"This is very strange/' said the sweet
chap, rubbing his eyes again. "Who ever
heard of an egg with a window in it? I
wonder if any one lives in that egg? It
is not large enough for a house, of course ;
but still, some very little folk might stay
in it. I'll take a look through that win-
dow."

The Candy Rabbit gave three hops and
stood closer to the large egg. It glittered
and sparkled in the light as newly fallen
snow glitters under the moon. The Candy
Rabbit looked in through the glass win-
dow, and what he saw inside the egg made
him wonder more and more.

For he saw a church and some houses,
a path leading over a little brook of
water, and on the bank of the brook stood
a little boy fishing.

IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? 3

"Well, I do declare!'' exclaimed the
Candy Rabbit. ' * Think of all those things
inside an egg — a church, a house and a
little boy! I wonder what has happened
to me! Yesterday I was on the toy
counter, with the Calico Clown and the
Monkey on a Stick, and to-day I seem to
be in Fairyland. I wonder if this really
is Fairyland? I guess I'd better look
around some more."

He glanced again through the little
glass window in the egg, and he thought
he saw the little boy on the bank of the
brook smiling at him. And the Candy
Rabbit smiled back. Then the Bunny
turned around and he saw, near him, a
big chocolate egg. It was covered with
twists and curlicues of sugar and candy,
and in the end of this egg, also, was a glass
window.

"Well, this certainly is surprising!"

4 A CANDY RABBIT

exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "I wonder
what I can see through that window!"

He looked and saw a little duck and a
little chicken inside the chocolate egg.
The little chicken was on one end of a
small seesaw, and the little duck was on
the other end. And as the Candy Rabbit
looked through the glass window, he saw
the seasaw begin to go up and down.

The Candy Rabbit shook his head.
Once more he rubbed his paws over his
pink glass eyes.

"I have heard of many strange things/1
he said to himself. "The Sawdust Doll
told some of her queer adventures, and so
did the White Rocking Horse and the
Bold Tin Soldier. But never, in all my
life, did I ever see a chocolate egg with a
glass window and a little chicken and a
duck inside seesawing and teeter-tauter-
ing! I think I had better go to the doc-

IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? 5

tor's, something must be the matter with
me!"

"What's the matter with you?" sud-
denly asked a voice behind the Candy
Rabbit. The sweet chap turned so quickly
that he almost cracked one of his sugary
ears. He saw, just back of him, a real
fuzzy, furry rabbit. At least the rabbit
seemed real, for his ears slowly moved
backward and forward, his head turned
from side to side, and, every now and
then, he would rise on his hind legs and
then crouch down again.

"What's the matter with you?" asked
this Fuzzy Bunny of the Candy Rabbit.

"I — I really don't know what is the
matter," was the answer.

"You seem to be all right," went on the
other rabbit, as he slowly turned his head
and bobbed up and down.

"Yes, I seem to be/' said the Candy

6 A CANDY RABBIT

Rabbit, feeling his head and body as far
as he could reach, as if to make sure no
part of him was broken, or lost, or out of
place. "But can you tell me this?" he
asked. "A little while ago I was on the
toy counter of this store with the Calico
Clown and the Monkey on a Stick. And
now I seem to be in Fairyland. Tell me,
am I dreaming, or is this really Fairy-
land, where eggs have windows in them
and hold little chickens and ducks who
seesaw?"

The other Rabbit smiled, and kept on
bobbing up and down, waving his ears and
turning his head from side to side.

"Oh, please stop that and answer me if
you can," begged the Candy Rabbit, in
rather a sharp voice. "Why do you do
that?"

"I have to," was the answer. "I have
to keep on doing this until I run down."

IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? 7

"Run down where V asked the Candy
Rabbit.

"I mean until the clock-work inside me
runs down," explained the Fuzzy Rabbit.
"You see, I am wound up, and when I am
wound I have to rise up and stoop down
on my hind legs. I have to twist my head
and wiggle my ears. I'll go on this way
for half an hour more. But don't let that
bother you. I can still talk, and I'm glad
you're here. You're some company.
These eggs never say anything," and with
his ears he pointed to the chocolate one
and the glittery one, each of which had
glass windows.

"Ask him how he likes it here," sug-
gested a voice on the other side of the
Candy Rabbit. Turning, he saw a big
chocolate chap, almost like himself, ex-
cept that this Rabbit was very dark in
color.

8 A CANDY BABBIT

The Chocolate Rabbit waved his ears in
a kind way at the Candy Bunny, and went
on:

"How do you like it here?"

The Candy Rabbit gave another look
around, and the more he looked the more
certain he was that he was in Fairyland.
Over at one end of what seemed to be a
table he saw a little chicken harnessed to
a tiny wagon, made from what appeared
to be an egg shell, and a little doll sat in
the egg-shell carriage, driving the chicken
with little silk ribbon horse reins.

Turning around, so that he might not
miss anything, the sweet fellow saw a
large basket of flowers, and, nestled in
among the blossoms, were some Candy
Rabbits like himself, only smaller. Over
in one corner were piled some cards, with
pretty pictures on them, and near them
was a small basket, filled with what seemed

IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? 9

to be green grass, in which were hidden
many small candy eggs.

"Yes, this surely must be Fairyland,
and I know I shall like it here," said the
Candy Rabbit, speaking half aloud. ' ' But
how did I get here, and where are the
Calico Clown and the Monkey on a
Stick?"

"Oh, they are not so far away," an-
swered the Fuzzy Rabbit. "And you are
not really in Fairyland, though this does
seem like it, I suppose," and his eyes
roved over the gay and pretty scene.

"Then where am I?" asked the Candy
Rabbit again. "If this isn't Fairyland,
where am I?"

The Chocolate Rabbit grinned.

"You are on the Easter Novelty
Counter,'1 was the Fuzzy Rabbit's an-
swer.

"Where in the world is that?" asked

10 A CANDY RABBIT

the Candy Rabbit. "Is it anywhere near
the North Pole Workshop of Santa
Claus?"

The Chocolate Rabbit gave a loud laugh.

"He doesn't even know his own store,"
said this dark-complexioned chap. ' i Why,
my dear fellow," he went on, "the
Easter Novelty Counter is just around the
corner from the toy section, where you
have lived so long. The Calico Clown, the
Monkey on a Stick and the other friends
you speak of are there. You are not very
far away from them.';

"That's good," said the Candy Rabbit.
"But why am I on the Easter Novelty
Counter, and how did I get here?"

"You were put here because this is
Easter time," answered the Chocolate
Rabbit.

"But I don't remember coming here,"
said the Candy Rabbit.

IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? 11

"No," said the Fuzzy Babbit with the
clock-work inside him, which made him
turn about and bow, "I dare say not.
You were asleep when one of the girl
clerks from your counter brought you over
here. But we are glad to have you among
us."

Just then it began to get light, for all
this talk had taken place in the night,
when only a dim light burned in the toy
store. And with the coming of morning
the clerks arrived, and also the customers
to buy Easter novelties and other things.

The Fuzzy Babbit stopped waving his
ears and became quiet. The Candy Bab-
bit no longer talked to the Chocolate
Bunny. A girl clerk led a lady, in a warm
fur coat, over toward the counter.

"Here are some fine Easter presents,''
said the girl. "We have rabbits of all
kinds."

12 A CANDY RABBIT

"I want a large one for a little girl,"
said the lady. "I promised to send Made-
line a nice Bunny." And then the Candy
Babbit felt himself being picked up and
looked at.

"Oh, I wonder what is going to hap-
pen ?" he thought.

The lady in the fur cloak turned the
Candy Rabbit around and around, and
even upside down, looking carefully at
him.

CHAPTER II

THE RABBIT'S NEW HOME

"GOODNESS me!" said the sweet chap to
himself, as the lady swung him to one side
so she might look at his eyes better. ' ' This
is worse than being on a merry-go-round !
I am feeling quite dizzy ! I hope I am not
going to be seasick, as the Lamb on Wheels
thought she was going to be when the
sailor bought her."

But the Candy Rabbit was not made ill.
The lady stopped turning him around and
around and said to the girl clerk :

"This Rabbit seems to be just what I
want for an Easter present. I'll take
him."

13

14 A CA>TDY RABBIT

"Shall I send it or will you take it with
you?" asked the clerk.

"I'll take it," the lady answered. "A
Candy Babbit is not very hard to carry."

She handed him back to the clerk, but
something happened. Whether the clerk
did not take a good hold of the Candy
Babbit, or whether the lady let go of him
too soon, I don't know. But, all of a sud-
den, the Candy Babbit slipped from the
lady's hand and began falling. Straight
toward the floor he fell !

"Oh!" he thought, "if I fall to the hard
floor I shall certainly be smashed, and
then I shall be of no use as an Easter
present. All I'll be good for will be to be
eaten, like any other piece of candy ! Oh,
dear, this is dreadful 1"

Faster and faster, nearer and nearer to
the floor fell the Candy Babbit, and, while
the customer and the clerk looked, it

THE RABBIT'S HOME 15

seemed certain that he must be broken ail
to bits.

But listen I

The toy counter was not far away from
the one where the Candy Rabbit and other
Easter novelties were displayed. And on
the counter were the Calico Clown and the
Monkey on a Stick, besides a Jumping
Jack.

Now whether one of these toys pushed
it off the counter I cannot say ; all I know
is that a big, soft, rubber ball suddenly
fell to the floor from the toy counter,
rolled along and came to a stop just at
the very place where the Candy Rabbit
was falling.

And what did the Candy Rabbit do but
fall on the soft, rubber ball ! Right down
oil the squidgy-squdgy ball toppled the
sweet chap, and it was like falling on a
feather bed. The Candy Rabbit was not

16 A CANDY RABBIT

hurt a bit, but just bounced straight up,
almost as far as he had fallen down, and
the girl clerk caught him in her hands.

"Oh, I'm so glad he wasn't broken!"
she exclaimed.

"So am I!" said the lady. "How re-
markable! The rubber ball rolled along
just in time. If every time any one or
anything fell a rubber ball would happen
along it would be very nice, wouldn't it?"

"Indeed it would," answered the girl
clerk.

And, mind you, I'm not saying that the
Calico Clown or the Monkey on a Stick
pushed the rubber ball off the toy counter
so that it rolled over in time for the Candy
Babbit to fall on it. I am not saying that
for sure, but it might have happened.

"I'd better wrap this Rabbit up before
anything else happens to him," said the
clerk, with a laugh.

THE RAJBBIT'S HOME 17

"Please do," begged the lady.

As for the Candy Rabbit, his little
sugar heart was beating very fast because
of the fright he had got when he thought
he was going to be broken to bits. But
of course neither the lady nor the girl
knew this. They just thought he was
made of sugar, and nothing else.

The girl quickly wrapped the Rabbit up
in some sheets of soft tissue paper, and
some padding made of curled wood, called
excelsior. Some of the curled wood got
in the Rabbit's ear and tickled him and
made him smile.

"Well, now I am going on a journey,"
said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he
felt the lady carrying him out of the store.
"I wish I had time to say good-bye to my
new friends on the Easter counter, and
to the Calico Clown and the Monkey on
a Stick. But perhaps I shall see them

18 A CANDY RABBIT

again, and maybe I shall meet the Saw-
dust Doll or the Bold Tin Soldier."

Just what happened, while he was
wrapped in the store bundle, of course
the Candy Rabbit did not know, but he
felt that he was being taken on quite a
journey.

And indeed he was, for the lady who
had bought him for an Easter present rode
home with him in an automobile, and
once, in the street, the fire engines came
along and the automobile had to hurry to
get out of the way. All that the Candy
Rabbit could hear was a great noise, a
rumble, a clang, a ringing of bells, and
much shouting. Then the automobile
went on again, and soon stopped.

The Candy Rabbit felt himself being
lifted from the seat of the automobile,
and, still in his bundle, he was carried
toward a house. He did not know it at the

THE RABBIT'S HOME 19

time, but it was to be a new home for him.

Mirabell's mother, who was Madeline's
Aunt Emma, was the lady who had bought
the Candy Rabbit.

"Here is Madeline's Easter present
that I promised her." said Mirabell's
mother, handing the wrapped-up Bunny
to Madeline's mother. "And there are
some eggs in a basket for Herbert. Hide
them away from the children until to-
morrow."

"I will," said Madeline's mother, and
then she carried the bundles into the
house, while Mirabell's mother went on
home in her automobile.

' ' Oh, Mother ! What have you ? " cried
the voice of a little girl, as the lady entered
the house with the bundle in which the
Candy Rabbit was wrapped.

"Is it something good to eat?" asked a
boy's voice.

20 A CANDY RABBIT

"Now, Herbert and Madeline, you must
not ask too many questions/' said their
mother, with a laugh. "This isn't exactly
Christmas, you know, but it will soon be
Easter, and "

"Oh, I know what it is !" cried the little
girl, whose name was Madeline. "It's the
eggs and baskets we have to hunt for on
Easter morning, Herbert! Oh, what
fun!"

* * Hurray ! ' ' cried Herbert. * * I wish it
were Easter now.'1

"It soon will be," said his mother, and
then she put away the Candy Rabbit where
the children could not find him. And the
place where she put nim was in a closet
in her room. She took the curled wood
and the paper wrappings from the Rab-
bit, and set him on a shelf.

At first it was so dark in the closet that
the Candy Rabbit could see nothing. But

THE RABBIT'S HOME 21

he knew he would soon get used to this.
Then, as his eyes began to see better and
better in the dark, as all rabbits can, he
smelled something he liked very much.

"It's just like the perfume counter in
the store," said the Rabbit, speaking out
loud, which he could do now, as there were
no human eyes to see him. "It's just like
perfume!'5

"It is perfume!" a voice suddenly said,
and the Candy Rabbit was very much
surprised.

"Who are you?" he asked.

And then he saw, standing on the shelf
near him, what seemed to be a little doll
made of glass. On her head was a funny
little cap, ending in a point, like the cap
a dunce wears in school in the story books,
and as the Candy Rabbit hopped nearer
this Glass Doll the sweet smell of perfume
became stronger.

22 A CANDY RABBIT

" Where is all the nice smell?" asked
the Candy Rabbit.

' * I am it, ' ' answered the Glass Doll. * ' I
am made hollow, and inside I am filled
with perfume. There is a hole in the top
of my head and up through my pointed
cap, and whenever the lady stands me on
my head and jiggles me up and down some
perfume spills out on her handkerchief."

"Stands you on your head I" cried the
Candy Rabbit. "I shouldn't think you
would like that!"

"Oh, well, I'm used to it by this time,"
said the Glass Doll. "But tell me, who
are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I am a Candy Rabbit, and I guess I
am going to be an Easter present," was
the answer. And, surely enough, he was.

Later that night Madeline's mother
opened the closet door. The Candy Rab-
bit saw her take down the Glass Doll, tip

THE RABBIT'S HOME 23

her upside down and sprinkle a little per-
fume on her fingers, which she rubbed
on her hair.

"And now we shall hide the Easter
baskets, so Madeline and Herbert may
hunt for them and find them to-morrow
morning," said the lady. "I must hide
this Rabbit extra well, so Madeline will
have a lot of fun searching for him."

"Put him behind the piano/' said a
man. He was the children's father.

"I will," said Mother, and that is where
the Candy Rabbit was hidden. Near him
was placed a little basket filled with Easter
eggs. Some of them were made of candy,
and others were like those in the store —
filled with pretty scenes.

"Those are the places I thought were
Fairyland," said the Candy Rabbit to
himself, as he looked at the basket of eggs.
"I wish some Chicken or Duck were here

24 A CANDY RABBIT

for me to talk to. Eggs can't say very
much. ' :

And of course that was true. Not until
an egg turns into a chicken can it move
about and say things by cackling — or
crowing, if it's a rooster instead of a
hen.

"I suppose I might hop around the
room and find some one to talk to,"
thought the Candy Rabbit to himself,
when he noticed that he was left alone be-
hind the piano with the basket of eggs.
"But perhaps it would be better to wait,
since I am a stranger here.'1

So the Candy Rabbit kept very still and
quiet all night, and in the morning it was
Easter Sunday.

Herbert and Madeline were up early,
for it was one of the joys of their lives to
hunt for Easter eggs. Eagerly they ran
about the rooms, looking under chairs, on

THE RABBIT'S HOME 25

mantels, behind the phonograph and be-
neath the sofa.

"Oh, I've found one basket!" cried
Herbert, as he saw a large one, filled with
green curled wood and eggs, under the
library table.

"And IVe found another!" shouted
Madeline, as, after rather a long search,
she looked behind the piano. "IVe found
a basket and — and — Oh, Herbert ! look
what a lovely Candy Babbit. Oh, I'm so
glad!"1 and the little girl picked up the
Candy Rabbit and fairly hugged him.
The Candy Rabbit was very happy. He
had now found some one to love him —
some one to whom he could belong, as the
Sawdust Doll belonged to the little girl
Dorothy.

As Madeline took up her Easter basket
and the Rabbit, Herbert, who was eating
some of his candy eggs, called ;

26 A CANDY RABBIT

"Here come Dorothy and Dick over to
show us their Easter baskets."

"And I'm going to show Dorothy my
Candy Babbit!" cried Madeline.

Running to the window, Madeline held
up the Rabbit, and he, looking out of his
glass eyes, saw a sight that gladdened his
heart. In Dorothy's arms was the Saw-
dust Doll — the same Sawdust Doll who
had lived in the store whence the Candy
Rabbit had come.

As Dorothy and Dick came laughing
into the room where Madeline and Her-
bert were, the children called to one an-
other :

* ' Happy Easter ! Happy Easter ! ' '

CHAPTER III

THE BAD CAT

"WHAT a pretty Candy Rabbit I" said
Dorothy to Madeline. "Where did you
get him?"

"He's one of my Easter presents," an-
swered Madeline. "Herbert and I have
just finished hunting for our baskets."

"Did you find them all, and all the
eggs?" inquired Dick. "Dorothy and I
got up early to hunt for ours."

"I think I found every one," replied
Herbert. "But last year, I remember, I
missed one big candy egg, and I didn't find
it until a week later."

The children showed each other their

27

28 A CANDY RABBIT

holiday presents, and the Candy Babbit
was much admired. Dorothy and Dick
took him up in their hands so they might
see him better.

" Goodness! I hope they don't drop
me," thought the Rabbit "There isn't
any rubber ball here for me to fall on, as
there was in the store. I certainly hope
they don't drop me!"

But Dorothy and Dick were very care-
ful, and, after they had looked at and ad-
mired the Rabbit, he was put down on a
chair not far from Dorothy's Sawdust
Doll. The Candy Rabbit kept wishing
that the children would go out of the room
for a while, so he might talk to the Doll,
whom he had not seen for a long time.

And, after a while, Madeline's mother
called the children to show them an Easter
present which she had received. Out of
the room trooped the four children, leav-

THE BAD CAT 29

ing the Candy Babbit and the Sawdust
Doll together, with no one to watch what
they said or did.

"Now I have a chance to talk to you!"
exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "I've just
been waiting to ask how all my friends are
at the toy store. And how are you ? How
did you get here ? Do you like living in a
house with children more than in the
store ? Tell me all about it ! "

" Goodness !" laughed the Candy Rab-
bit. "You talk as fast as a phonograph
Doll when she has been wound up tight."

"Well, we'll have to talk fast if we want
to tell each other anything before those
children get back," said the Sawdust Doll.
"Now you tell me your adventures, and
then I'll tell you mine."

The two toy friends talked for some
time, the Candy Babbit relating the latest
news of the toy store, and the Sawdust

30 A CANDY RABBIT

Doll speaking of the nice home she had
with Dorothy, and how kind Dick was to
the White Rocking Horse.

Then the Rabbit wanted to know about
the Lamb on Wheels and the Bold Tin Sol-
dier, and, as the Sawdust Doll had heard
from them lately, she told some of their
adventures.

"I do wish I could see the Calico Clown
and the Monkey on a Stick once more,"
sighed the Sawdust Doll. "They were
certainly the j oiliest toys I ever knew."

"Yes, they were," agreed the Candy
Rabbit. "And I don't believe the Clown
has yet found any one to answer his riddle
about what makes more noise than a pig
under a gate."

"Hush! Here come the children I" ex-
claimed the Sawdust Doll in a low voice.
Madeline and Herbert, Dorothy and Dick,
having seen the present Madeline's

THE BAD CAT 31

mother had received, had come back into
the room again.

"What shall we do now?" asked Made-
line.

"Let's play with your Rabbit and my
Doll," suggested Dorothy.

Madeline thought this would be nice,
but as Dick did not care much about such
fun he said he and Herbert would go back
home and get out his Rocking Horse.

"And 111 get Arnold and his Tin Sol-
diers and we'll have some fun," he added.
"Come on, Herb."

"If you see Mirabell, send her over here
to play with us," called Dorothy to her
brother, and Dick said he would do so.
"Tell her to bring her Lamb on Wheels,'1
she added.

The two little girls had good times play-
ing with the Sawdust Doll and the Candy
Rabbit, and, after a while, Madeline's

32 A CASTDY RABBIT

mother brought in a plate of cookies for
the little girls to eat.

"We'll have a play party," said Made-
line. "I'll set my Candy Rabbit up here
on the goldfish stand where he can watch
us, for he can't eat anything, you know."

"And 111 set my Sawdust Doll over in
this chair where she can see us," said
Dorothy. "My Doll can eat make-believe
things when I have a play party, but we
won't pretend that now. We'll just eat
the cookies ourselves."

"Yes," agreed Madeline. So she put
her Candy Rabbit on the goldfish stand.

This was a round table on which stood
a bowl of real, live goldfish. The fish swam
around in the water, and now and then
they stopped swimming to look out
through the glass with their big, round
eyes. The top of the goldfish globe was
open, and sometimes Madeline was al-

THE BAD CAT 33

lowed to feed the fish, when her mother
stood by. The fish ate tiny bits of biscuit
bought for them at the fish, bird and dog
store.

Dorothy's Sawdust Doll was propped
up in a chair not far from the goldfish.
Then the two little girls began to eat the
cookies.

While this was going on a bad cat had
sneaked into the room. The cat was a big
fellow, and he often got into mischief.
He sometimes chased birds, and, more
than once, Patrick, the gardener at Dick
and Dorothy's house, had driven him
away from the coops where the little
chickens lived with the old hen.

"Goodness, I hope that cat isn't after
me ! ' ' thought the Candy Rabbit.

"Mercy! I hope the cat doesn't carry
me off, the way the dog Carlo once did,"
thought the Sawdust Doll.

34 A CANDY RABBIT

But the bad cat was paying no atten-
tion to either the Doll or the Rabbit. The
cat's eyes were on the live goldfish in the
glass bowl, and, when I tell you that cats
are very fond of fish, you can guess what
is going to happen.

With a quick, silent spring, making no
noise on his soft, padded paws, the cat first
jumped into the chair beside the Sawdust
Doll.

"Oh, dear me, he certainly is going to
carry me off ! " thought the Doll. * ' I wish
I dared scream!'3

But the cat was not after the Doll.
With another jump Tom landed on the
table beside the bowl of goldfish.

"Goodness sakes alive! my time has
come," thought the poor frightened Candy
Rabbit. "The cat is going to eat me!"

But Tom was not after a Candy Rabbit,
His greedy eyes were on the swimming

THE BAD CAT 35

goldfish in the open glass bowl. Dorothy
and Madeline sat with their backs to the
little table on which stood the bowl of fish
and the Candy Rabbit. The little girls
were busy talking.

All of a sudden Tom stood up on his
hind legs and put his forepaws on the
edge of the bowl. As he did this the fish
began swimming around swiftly, very
much frightened, indeed, just as you may
have seen a canary bird flutter in a cage
when some cat came too close.

"Oh, he isn't after me — he's after the
fish!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "Oh,
the poor fish ! I wish I could save them 1"

Tom was switching his tail to and fro,
as cats always do when they are about to
catch a bird, a fish or anything alive. The
fish were swimming about faster and
faster inside their bowl of water. They
could make no noise. Some fish, such as

36 A CANDY RABBIT

catfish, can make a little sound out of
water, and so can the fish called grunters,
but I never heard of any other fish making
any noise. Though of course they may
be able to talk among themselves, for all
I know.

Standing with his f orepaws on the edge
of the glass bowl, Tom dipped one paw
down toward the water to get a fish. His
tail kept on switching to and fro, and, all
at once, it switched against the Candy
Rabbit and tilted the Bunny over toward
the glass bowl.

« ' Tinkle-tinkle ! Tink ! ' ' went the hard
ears of the Candy Rabbit against the glass,
making a noise like the ringing of a little
bell.

"What's that?" suddenly cried Made-
line, turning from the table where she sat
with Dorothy eating cookies.

Dorothy also turned and looked. The

THE BAD CAT 37

two little girls saw Tom up on the gold-
fish table.

"Oh, you bad cat, get down from
there I " cried Madeline, and she looked
for something to throw at Tom. "Get
away from our fish !" she cried.

The cat paused a moment, and then,
seeing he would be caught if he tried to get
a fish, down he jumped, with a last, angry
switch of his tail at the Candy Rabbit.

"That was all your fault!" hissed the
cat to the Bunny in a whisper. "If you
hadn't made a noise they wouldn't have
seen me. I'll fix you for that, Mr. Candy
Rabbit!"

CHAPTER IV

UP IN THE AIR

MADELINE and Dorothy were so sur-
prised at first at seeing the bad cat in the
room that they did not know what to do,
except that Madeline called "Scat!" to
him.

But when the cat jumped down and
started to run out of the room, the little
girls began to talk very fast.

"Oh, wasn't he a bold thing!" cried
Madeline.

"Did he get any of your goldfish?"
Dorothy asked.

She and Madeline hurried over to the
bowl and counted the swimming fishes.

38

UP IN THE AIR 39

"No, there are five there, and that's all
we had," said Madeline. "The naughty
cat didn't get any."

"What do you suppose made that noise
like the ringing of a bell ?" asked Dorothy.

"It was the Candy Rabbit," answered
Madeline. "Look! He fell over against
the glass bowl, and, lots of times, when
I've been feeding the fish and have struck
the bowl, it has rung like a bell. The
Candy Rabbit did that, and that's what
made me look around."

"Wouldn't it have been funny if the
Rabbit had made the bowl tinkle all by
himself?" asked Dorothy, with a laugh.

"Yes. But he couldn't," said Made-
line.

And, now I come to think of it, maybe
the Candy Rabbit did topple over by him-
self, to strike against the bowl and so
cause Dorothy and Madeline to turn

40 A CANDY RABBIT

around in time to stop the bad cat from
getting the goldfish. Mind you, I am not
saying for sure that this happened The
cat's tail certainly brushed against the
Candy Rabbit, but the sweet chap may
have tinkled against the glass globe him-
self. He surely wanted to save the fish
from being eaten.

During the rest of Easter Sunday the
children played quietly with their toys,
Mirabell and Arnold, the other little boy
and girl, came over to Madeline's house
with their gifts and every one had a happy
time.

The Candy Rabbit was looked at over
and over again, but, though he liked this
and was glad and happy he had come to
live with Madeline, yet he could not help
worrying about what the cat had said.

"I wonder if a cat can do anything to
me," thought the sweet chap, over and

UP IN THE AIR 41

over again. "I must be on the watch.
He may try to sneak in again/5

But, as the days passed and nothing
happened, the Candy Rabbit did not
worry so much, nor think so much about
it. He saw nothing more of the cat.

Madeline took very good care of her
Candy Rabbit. She got a piece of pink
ribbon and tied it around her Easter toy's
neck, making him look very pretty.

"Now I am as stylish as Dorothy 's Saw-
dust Doll, who has a blue ribbon on her
hair," thought the Candy Rabbit.

And because of that very same pink
ribbon something dreadful happened a
few days later. I will tell you about it.
After Easter the weather gradually be-
came warmer and sunnier. Doors and
windows could be left open, and the flow-
ers in the yard began to blossom.

One day the Candy Rabbit was placed

42 A CANDY RABBIT

by Madeline on a chair in the dining
room, near the bowl of goldfish on their
little round table. The Sawdust Doll was
not in the room, for Dorothy had her toy
out in her own yard playing. The Candy
• Babbit was lonesome, for he did not know
how to talk to the goldfish.

All of a sudden, in through the open
window, jumped the same bad cat that
had been there before. His tail was lash-
ing to and fro, and his whiskers were
wiggling up and down.

"Meow!" said the cat.

"Oh, dear, here he is again!" said the
Candy Rabbit, and, being able, as all toys
are, to speak and understand animal lan-
guage, the Candy Rabbit went on :

"Have you come to try to catch a gold-
fish, Mr. Tom?"

"Not now!" was the snarling answer.
"I came to pay you back, as I said I

... i|l ,• • • • •

" It Was Not My Fault," Said Candy Rabbit.

Page 43

UP IN THE AIR 43

would ! Only for your toppling over and
making the glass globe tinkle, I would
have had a goldfish before this. It's all
your fault, and I'm going to pay you
back!"

"It was not my fault!" said the Rabbit.
"You knocked me over yourself with
your switching tail. But if I could have
stopped you in any other way from getting
a goldfish, I would have done it.'1

"Ha I So that's the way you feel about
it, is it?" growled the cat. "Well, I'm
going to fix you!"

"How?" asked the Candy Rabbit, won-
dering what was going to happen. ' ' What
are you going to do?'1

"I'm going to carry you off to the fields
and lose you in the tall grass," was the
answer. "Then the next time I want
to catch a goldfish you will not give the
alarm."

44 A CANDY RABBIT

"Oh, please don't take me away I"
begged the Candy Rabbit.

' ' Yes, I will ! " said the cat. "I '11 carry
you away by that pink ribbon around
your neck."

All of a sudden, before the Candy Rab-
bit could hop out of the way, the bad cat
sprang across the room and caught in his
teeth the end of the pink ribbon that was
around the neck of the Candy Easter toy.

"Stop it I Stop! Please let me go!"
cried the Candy Rabbit.

"I'll fix you !" was all the cat answered.
Then, carrying the Candy Rabbit in his
mouth by means of the ribbon, the bad cat
sprang out of the window again and was
soon trotting through the tall grass of the
lots near the house where Madeline lived.

The grass swished and swashed against
the legs and ears of the Candy Rabbit as
the cat carried him along. The Rabbit

ITP IN THE AIR 45

was not hurt any, because the ribbon was
not tied very tightly about his neck. And
of course the cat's teeth did not touch him.
But, for all that, the Candy Rabbit was
very angry and somewhat alarmed.

"What are you going to do with me?"
he asked the cat.

"You'll see!'' was the answer. "I'm
going to fix you for spoiling my chance of
getting a goldfish dinner 1 I'm going to
lose you, and then I'll go back and get a
fish."

Carrying the Candy Rabbit a little way
farther into the tall grass, the cat sud-
denly let go of the ribbon. The Rabbit
fell down, but as the grass was soft, like
a cushion, he was not hurt. He gave a
little grunt as he fell down.

"Now you stay here a while and see
how you like it," said the bad cat, and
away he trotted, hoping to get a meal of

46 A CANDY RABBIT

goldfish this time. And there came to the
poor Candy Rabbit from the distance the
sound of the Cat's voice as he laughed,
"Ha-ha," and snarled, "I've fixed you all
right! Ha-ha!"

"Dear me!" thought the poor Candy
Rabbit, "I wonder what will happen to
me. I must try to get out of here. I can
hop, as long as no human eyes see me.
Maybe I can get back in time to warn the
goldfish of their danger."

The Rabbit tried to hop, but, being
made of candy as he was, with rather stiff
legs that were not very long, he could not
go very fast. And when he had made a
few hops he was very tired.

"Dear me! I shall have to stay here
forever, perhaps," he sighed. "And, if it
rains and I get wet, I'll melt and there
will be nothing left of me! Oh. what
trouble I am in!"

UP IN THE AIR 47

The Candy Rabbit crouched down in
the grass, and pretty soon he heard some
voices talking. He knew they were the
voices of boys, and, in a little while, he
heard one say:

"Now, Herbert, you hold the kite and
111 run with it."

"All right, Dick," said some one else.
"I hope it flies away up high in the air."

"I'll keep the tail clear of the weeds,"
said another boy.

"That's the way, Dick," said the first
boy.

The Candy Rabbit, down in the grass,
heard this.

"They must be Dick, Herbert and Ar-
nold, ' ' he thought. ' ' They have come here
to fly their kite. I hope they find me and
take me home in time to save the goldfish
from the cat."

There was more talk and laughter

48 A CANDY RABBIT

among the boys, but the Candy Rabbit
could not see what they were doing. All
at once, though, one boy said.

"The tail of the kite is not heavy
enough. We've got to tie something to it.
And, oh, here is the very thing!" he went
on. 1 1 We 11 give him a ride up in the air ! ' '

"Give who a ride?" asked Dick, for it
was Herbert who had spoken.

"Give Madeline's Candy Rabbit a ride
on the end of the kite tail," went on Her-
bert. "Here's her Rabbit down in the
grass/'

"How did he get here?" asked Arnold.

"I don't know. Maybe my sister
carried him over the fields to show to some
girl and dropped him. But we'll give the
Candy Rabbit a ride in the air. He will
be just heavy enough for the kite tail. I '11
tie him on.':

And then, before the Candy Rabbit

UP IN THE AIR 49

could hop away, even if he had been al-
lowed to do so (which he was not) Her-
bert began tying him on the end of the
kite tail by means of the pink ribbon.

A moment later the Rabbit felt himself
sailing through the air.

CHAPTER Y

THE ORGAN GRINDER

SINCE the Candy Rabbit had left the
toy store, after having been put on the
Easter novelty counter, so many things
had happened that he was beginning to
get used to them. But sailing through
the air on the tail of a kite was something
he had never done before.

Up he went, higher and higher, as the
wind blew the kite. The Candy Rabbit
looked down toward the ground. It
seemed a long way off — very far from

hlTYl.

"If I should fall now, as I fell when
the lady dropped me in the toy store,"

50

THE ORGAN GRINDER 51

thought the Candy Rabbit, "I think it
would be the end of me. There is no soft
rubber ball here on which to land."

Dick, Arnold and Herbert the three
boys who had been flying their kite when
they found the Candy Rabbit in the grass,
were laughing and shouting as they saw
the tail switching to and fro? with the
Easter Bunny tied on the end,

"That Rabbit was Just the thing needed
to make our kite go up," said Dick.

"Yes," agreed Arnold. "But it's
funny the Rabbit was out in the grass
here, wasn't it?"

"Oh, I guess my sister must have
dropped him,'1 remarked Herbert.
"When we get through flying the kite I'll
take the Rabbit off the tail and carry him
back to Madeline."

Up and up, and to and fro, switched
the Candy Rabbit on the kite tail. Of

52 A CANDY RABBIT

course a bunch of grass, a wad of paper,
or even a stone would have been just as
well for the boys to have used as a weight.
But they had happened to see the Candy
Rabbit, and had taken him. Boys are
sometimes like that, you know.

How long Herbert, Dick and Arnold
might have let the Candy Rabbit sail
about on the end of the kite tail I cannot
say, but when the three chums had been
having this fun for about half an hour,
all of a sudden Madeline and her two
friends, Mirabell and Dorothy, came run-
ning across the field.

"Oh, Herbert! what do you think!"
cried Madeline, when she saw her brother.
"That bad old cat came into our house
again, and tried to catch one of our gold-
fish!"

"Did he get any?" asked Herbert.

"No, but he almost did. Dorothy came

THE ORGAN GRINDER 53

over with her Sawdust Doll just as the
cat was dipping his paw down into the
bowl, and what do you think Dorothy
did?" asked Madeline.

"I don't know. What did she do?"
asked Herbert.

"I just threw my Sawdust Doll at the
cat!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I knew it
couldn't hurt her, 'cause she's stuffed
with sawdust.''

"Did you hit him?" Dick asked.
I almost did," answered Dorothy.

Anyhow, I scared him away, and he
didn't get any goldfish. "

"That's good," said Arnold.

"I wish I'd been there!" said Dick.

Just then Madeline looked up and saw
something dangling on the end of the kite
tail.

"Why, Herbert !" she cried, "what have
you there ? Oh, you have my Candy Rab-

II

t(

54 A CANDY RABBIT

bit on your kite ! I was looking all over
for him. Where 'd you get him?"

"I found him here in the field where
you dropped him," answered her brother.

"I didn't drop my Candy Rabbit here,"
went on Madeline. "I wouldn't do such
a thing. I left him in the house, and then
I couldn't find him, and I was coming to
ask if you had seen him. I thought maybe
Carlo had carried him off as he carried
Dorothy's doll once."

"Well, if you didn't take your Candy
Rabbit out and leave him here in the field,
maybe Carlo did," said Herbert. "Any-
how, we didn't hurt him and you can have
him back again. We can tie a bunch of
weeds on the kite tail. They'll be just as
good as the Rabbit."

"Oh, the idea of saying my Candy Rab-
bit is like a bunch of weeds !" cried Made-
line. "Give him right back to me this

THE ORGAN GRINDER 55

minute, Herbert!" and she shook her
finger at her brother.

"All right, "Herbert answered. "Pull
the kite down, fellows."

"All right."

Down came the kite when the string was
wound up, and slowly the Candy Rabbit
floated back to earth. Madeline stood
under the tail with her dress held out to
catch the Bunny in it. And down he came,
not being hurt a bit. Quickly Madeline
loosened her Easter toy from the kite tail,
and she nestled him in her arms.

"You poor little Bunny!" she mur-
mured. "I guess he was scared half to
death away up there in the air."

She and the other girls looked at the
toy. He did not seem to be harmed in the
least.

"But he's got a green grass stain on one
ear," said Mirabell.

56 A CANDY RABBIT

"That only makes him look more styl-
ish," said Dorothy.

"And green goes well with the pink
color of his ribbon, " added Madeline.
"Oh, I'm so glad to get my Rabbit back."

Madeline took her Candy Rabbit back
to the house. There she and the girls had
some fun, and the boys kept on flying the
kite. They used a bunch of weeds as a
weight on the tail, instead of the Rabbit,
as they had done at first.

And of course neither Madeline nor any
of the others knew that the cat had
carried the Bunny away and had dropped
him in the grassy field. They all thought
Carlo had done it, but of course there was
no way of finding out for sure, except by
reading this book. In this the true story
of the Candy Rabbit is told for the first
time.

Madeline tried to get the green grass-

THE ORGAN GRINDER 57

stain off her Rabbit's ear, but it would not
come out.

"Why don't you scrape it off?" asked
Herbert.

"Why, I might scrape off half his earl
No, indeed!" Madeline said.

"Well, wash it off," suggested Dick,
who had come over to play with Herbert.
"Take him up to the bathroom and wash
his ear. My mother washes my ears.'1

"Pooh! your ears aren't made of
candy," said Madeline.

"No. And I'm glad they're not, or the
fellows would be biting pieces off all the
while," laughed Dick.

"Well, I guess I won't wash my Candy
Rabbit — at least not just yet," said
Madeline. "I'll wait until he gets a few
more stains on him.'1

Several days passed. The bad cat did
not again try to catch the goldfish. He

58 A CANDY RABBIT

seemed to have been frightened away
when Dorothy threw the Sawdust Doll at
him. And, I am glad to say, the Doll was
not hurt in the least. In fact, she rather
liked scaring cats.

One day Madeline took her Candy Rab-
bit out into the kitchen where the cook
was making a cake. She had just put the
cake into the oven to bake, and there were
several dishes on the table — dishes in
which were dabs of sweet, sugary icing
and cake batter.

"Oh, may I please clean out some of the
cake dishes?" asked Madeline.

"Yes," answered the cook kindly.

This was one of the pleasures Madeline
and Herbert enjoyed on baking day, but
Herbert was not on hand then, so Made-
line had all the dishes to herself. She set
her Candy Rabbit on a shelf, got a spoon,
and began to clean the icing dish. Of

THE ORGAN GRINDER 59

course you know that means she scraped
the dish with the spoon and ate the icing
she scraped up. Yes, and I think she even
licked the spoon. After she had finished
the white icing dish there was a chocolate
one to start on.

"Oh, I'm going to have a dandy time!"
laughed the little girl.

She forgot all about her Candy Rabbit.
There he sat on a shelf near the gas stove,
and as the cakes in the oven began to bake,
the fire grew hotter and hotter and
the Candy Rabbit began to feel very
strange.

"Dear me, I am afraid I am going to
melt!" he said to himself, not daring to
speak aloud when Madeline and the cook
were there.

The kitchen grew warmer and warmer,
the stove became hotter and hotter, and,
on the shelf where the Candv Rabbit sat,

60 A CASTDY RABBIT

It was like a summer day in the blazing
sun.

"This is worse than anything that ever
happened to me before," said the Candy
Rabbit, "I think I'll just melt down into
a lump of sugar! That would be dread-
ful!"

Of course it would, and Madeline would
have been very sorry if anything like that
had happened. One of the ears of the
Rabbit was just getting soft and drooping
over a little to one side, when the cook
happened to look toward the shelf.

"Oh, Madeline, my dear!" she cried.
"Your Candy Rabbit!"

"What's the matter?" asked the little
girl, looking up from the dish she was
scraping clean with a spoon, in order to
eat the last of the chocolate inside.

"He will melt if you leave him on that
shelf near the hot stove," went on the

THE ORGAN GRINDER 61

cook. "Look, one of his ears is droop-
ing !"

"Oh, dearl" screamed Madeline, and,
dropping the spoon, she caught her Easter
toy from the shelf.

It was only just in time, too, for the
poor Rabbit was just beginning to melt.
In fact, one of his ears did soften and
twist over to one side a little. But Made-
line quickly took him out on the cool
porch, and the Rabbit felt better. How-
ever, that queer twist, or droop, stayed in
one ear — not the one with the grass-stain
on, but the other.

"I don't care/' Madeline said, when her
toy was cool and all right again. "It
makes him look different from the other
Candy Rabbits to have a twisted ear. It's
so funny!'1

Happy days followed for the Bunny.
The children played sometimes in one

62 A CANDY RABBIT

house and sometimes in another, taking
their toys with them, and sometimes the
Rabbit had a chance to talk to the Saw-
dust Doll, the Bold Tin Soldier, the White
Rocking Horse or the Lamb on Wheels,
for the children would often leave their
toys together, as the boys and girls went
out to play in the yards or on the veran-
das.

"I wonder how the Calico Clown is get-
ting along," said the Candy Rabbit to the
Sawdust Doll on one of the days when
they were together. They were on the
porch of Madeline's house, and Madeline,
Mirabell and Dorothy were around in the
back yard playing in a sand pile.

"I should like to see him, and also the
Monkey on a Stick," said the Doll.
"Hark! What's that?" she suddenly
asked, as strains of music were heard.

"It's a hand organ, and here comes a

THE ORGAN GRINDER 63

man playing it," said the Candy Rabbit.

"Has he a monkey with him to gather
pennies in his hat?" asked the Sawdust
Doll.

"No. But he has a little girl with him.
She has a basket. I guess she gathers
pennies in that Maybe the organ man
had a monkey but it ran away," suggested
the Rabbit.

"Maybe," agreed the Doll. "Oh, isn't
that nice music!" she cried. "It makes
me feel like dancing !"

The hand-organ man was, indeed, play-
ing a nice tune. The girl who was with
him came into the yard and up the steps,
holding out her basket ready for pennies.
The little girls being in the back yard, no
one was near the front of the house.

"Ah, a Candy Rabbit and a Sawdust
Doll!" exclaimed the organ man's girl.
"Nobodv seems to want them. I have a

64 A CANDY BABBIT

r

doll of my own, but I have no Candy Bali-
bit. I think I will take this one. I would
rather have him than pennies 1"

And, looking quickly here and there to
see if any one was going to toss her a
penny, but seeing no one, the hand-organ
man's little girl picked up the Candy Bab-
bit, tucked it under her apron, and
quickly went down the steps again.

"Well, of all things!" thought the
Candy Babbit, as he felt himself being
taken away in this fashion. "Of all
things! What is this hand-organ girl
going to do with me?"

And that is something we must find out.

CHAPTER VI

THE PEDDLER'S BASKET

SLOWLY down the street walked the
organ grinder, turning the crank and
making music. His little girl, an Italian
child, after putting the Candy Babbit
under her apron, looked around the house
where Madeline lived to see if any one
might be coming out with pennies. But
no one came.

Madeline and Dorothy and Mirabell
were in the back yard where they had
gone to play in the sand pile, after leav-
ing the Sawdust Doll and the Candy Rab-
bit on the front veranda. Madeline's
mother was not at home, and the cook was

65

66 A CANDY RABBIT

too busy in the kitchen to bother with
giving pennies to organ grinders, though
she might have done so if she had had
time and had had plenty of pennies.

As for Madeline and Dorothy and Mira-
bell, they had given one look down the
street when they heard the hand-organ
music. Then, as they saw he had no mon-
key with him, Madeline said :

"Oh, a hand-organ isn't any fun unless
it has a monkey. We don't want to bother
waiting to see this one. Come on and
play.':

So, as I have told you, they were in the
back yard, leaving the Doll and the Rab-
bit on the veranda. And then the hand-
organ man's little girl had come along
and taken the Rabbit.

"I'll take him home with me. Nobody
wants him," she said to herself as she
went down off the veranda with the candy

THE PEDDLER'S BASKET 67

chap under her apron. And she really
thought the Rabbit had been put out be-
cause no one wanted him. She slipped the
Bunny into a large pocket in the skirt of
her drees and hurried on after her father,
who had walked down the street grinding
out his tunes.

The organ grinder's little girl did not
tell her father about the Candy Rabbit
until that night when they reached their
home after their day's travel.

With the organ man lived his brother,
who was a peddler. He had a big basket
in which he carried pins, needles, pin
cushions, little looking glasses, court
plaster and odds and ends, called " no-
tions. r' This peddler man went about
from house to house selling notions to
such as wanted to buy them.

He, too, had been about all day, ped-
dling with his basket, and he reached

68 A CANDY RABBIT

home about the same time as did his
brother, the organ grinder, and the little
girl.

The family had supper, and, after that,
Rosa brought out the Candy Rabbit. All
the while the Bunny had been in her
pocket, and the sweet chap did not like it
very much.

"I want to be out where I can see
things," murmured the Rabbit. "I want
to see what is happening. It is dreadful
to be kidnapped like this and carried away
from home!"

For that is what really had happened —
the Candy Rabbit had been kidnapped by
Rosa, the organ girl, though, really, she
did not mean to do wrong in taking him.

But when the Bunny was taken out of
Rosa's pocket and set on the supper table
in the light, he looked around him. It was
quite a different home from Madeline's—

THE PEDDLER'S BASKET 69

not nearly so nice, the Candy Rabbit
thought, but of course he dared say
nothing.

"Ah, what a fine Rabbit! Where did
you get him'?" asked Rosa's father.

"He was thrown away on a veranda of
a house where I got no pennies," she an-
swered. "No one wanted him, so I took
him."

"He is a fine Candy Rabbit," said Joe,
the peddler, looking at the Bunny. "He
is almost new. I guess he came from an
Easter novelty counter. Once I sold
Easter toys, but now I sell only pins and
needles. Yes, he is a fine Rabbit, Rosa.
Are you going to eat him? He is made
of candy. "

' ' Eat him 1 Oh, no ! I am going to keep
him, always!" said the little girl, hugging
the Rabbit in her arms.

The Bunny liked to be hugged and

70 A CANDY RABBIT

petted, and, though he would rather have
been in Madeline's house, still he was glad
the little organ girl liked him.

" Nobody wanted the Babbit, so I took
him," said Rosa, and she really thought
this was so.

But of course Madeline wanted her
Candy Rabbit very much. And when she
and Dorothy and Mirabell came back to the
veranda after their play in the sand pile
and found the Sawdust Doll there and
the Bunny gone, poor Madeline felt very
bad indeed. She cried, and she looked all
over for her Easter toy, but he was not to
be found.

At first Madeline thought perhaps her
brother or one of the other boys had taken
the Bunny to tie to the kite again, but
Herbert said that he and his chums had
not seen the toy.

Then Madeline thought perhaps Carlo,

THE PEDDLER'S BASKET 71

the little dog, had carried the Bunny
away, as once he carried off the Sawdust
Doll, but this could not have happened,
as Carlo had been kept chained in his
kennel all that day.

"Well, my Candy Rabbit is gone, and
I wish I could find him, and I'm awful
lonesome without him," sobbed Madeline,
and she was not happy even when her
mother said she or Aunt Emma would buy
her another.

And all the while the organ grinder's
little girl had the Candy Rabbit. And
that night, when the time came for Rosa
to go to bed, she looked for a safe place
to put the Easter toy. The little girl saw
the big basket of the peddler in a corner
of the room.

"I'll put the Candy Rabbit on one of
the pin cushions in Uncle Joe's basket,"
said Rosa to herself. "He can sleep there

72 A CANDY BABBIT

all night. To-morrow I will make a little
nest for him."

And the Candy Rabbit was so tired after
all the adventures he had met with that
day that he fell asleep almost at once, and
passed a very pleasant night in the basket
on the pin cushion, which was stuffed
with sawdust, just like Dorothy 's doll.

Peddler Joe was up early the next morn-
ing. He was up before either his brother,
Tony, or the little girl, Rosa. Joe cooked
himself some breakfast on an old oil stove,
and then, taking his basket, he went out.
He did not even turn back the oilcloth
cover to see that his pins, needles, cushions
and other notions were all in place. He
felt sure that they were. And of course
he did not know the Candy Rabbit was in
his basket.

But there the Candy Rabbit was, in the
peddler's basket, on the cushion.

THE PEDDLER'S BASKET 73

"Dear me! what is happening now?"
thought the Candy Rabbit, as he was sud-
denly awakened by being jiggled and
joggled about in the basket. "Am I at
sea? Have I been taken on a ship, and
am I crossing the ocean?" For that is
what the motion was like — just the same
as the Lamb of Wheels felt when she was
on the raft.

And Joe, the peddler, not knowing the
Bunny was in the basket, carried the
sweet chap farther and farther away.

We must now see what happened to
him.

CHAPTER VII

IN" THE BATHTUB

JOE, the peddler, stopped at several
houses with his big basket of notions.

" Any pins? Any needles? Any court-
plaster? Any pin cushions needed to-
day?" he would ask, as he went to door
after door. He would lift back half of
the oilcloth cover of his basket to show his
wares.

"No, nothing to-day! We have all the
pins we need," was all the answer he re-
ceived in many places.

"Well, I do not seem to be going to
have very good luck to-day," thought Joe,
as he tramped on. "I hope Rosa and her

74

IN THE BATHTUB 75

father do better with the hand organ. I
have sold nothing yet.'1

And, all this while, Joe didn't know any-
thing of the Candy Rabbit in his basket.
But the Rabbit was there, just the same.

He had awakened when Peddler Joe
picked up the basket. The Candy Rabbit
found himself lying on the new pin
cushion, where Rosa had placed him. But
as the basket was lifted up and swung on
Joe's shoulder by means of a strap, it was
so tilted that the Candy Rabbit slipped off
the cushion and fell down in among a pile
of papers of pins.

"Oh, dear!" thought the sugary chap.
"Now I'll be all stuck up!"

But he was not, I am glad to say. The
pins were fastened on papers, which were
then folded together, so that the points
did not stick out, and the candy fellow
was not even scratched.

76 A CANDY BABBIT

Up and down the street went Joe the
peddler, trying to sell his notions. Finally
he came to the very house where Madeline
lived, and where Rosa had taken the
Candy Babbit from the veranda the day
before.

" Maybe I shall sell something here,"
thought Joe. He went up the steps and
rang the bell. As it happened, Madeline's
mother was in the hall and she opened the
door. Madeline was also in the hall, just
getting ready to go to see some little
friends.

"Any pins? Any needles? Any no-
tions to-day?" asked Joe, as he held his
basket out for Madeline's mother to see.
And this time, and for the first time that
morning, Joe pulled back the oilcloth
cover from the other side. That was the
reason he had not vet seen the Babbit.

w

But now, as the oilcloth was rolled back,

IN THE BATHTUB 77

the sweet chap, lying on his side among
the papers of pins, was shown. Madeline 's
mother was just going to say she did not
care for any needles or sticking-plaster
when the little girl, looking into the basket,
spied the Bunny.

"Oh, look!" cried Madeline! " There
he is — my Candy Rabbit! How did he
get in the basket ? Oh, Mother, my Candy
Rabbit has come home to me!"

Madeline's mother was just as aston-
ished as was the little girl; and Peddler
Joe was surprised also.

"How did my little girl's Candy Rabbit
get in your basket?" asked Madeline's
mother.

1 1 1 don't know, ' ' Joe answered. ' * I did
not know he was here. He is a surprise
to me. If he is yours, take him."

He handed the Candy Rabbit to Made-
line, who was overjoyed to get her Easter

78 A CANDY RABBIT

toy back again. Eagerly she looked at
him, to make sure he was not hurt or
damaged.

"Are you sure he is the same Rabbit —
your Candy Rabbit?" asked Mother.

"Oh, yes, very sure," answered Made-
line. "Look, here is the green spot on his
ear, where he fell in the grass the day the
boys tied him to the kite tail. And, see!
one ear is bent a little. It happened when
he was too near the heat, the day I was
eating chocolate from the cake dishes.
He's my Candy Rabbit, all right!"

"Then I am glad you have him back,
little girl," said Peddler Joe. "Rosa
must have take him by mistook, you know
— she pick him up when she go around
with the organ."

Then he told how his little niece had
found the Rabbit, and, thinking the toy
belonged to no one, had brought it home.

IN THE BATHTUB 79

"I buy her another Rabbit so she not
be feeling bad,'' said Joe, with a smile.
"She did not mean to take yours, little
girl. And now maybe you want some
needles or pins?'1' he said to Madeline's
mother.

"Yes, I think I will buy a few, because
you were so good as to bring back my
little girl's Easter present that was given
her by her aunt," Mother said. And Joe
was glad because he had sold something
from his basket.

Madeline was glad to get back her Candy
Rabbit, and she stayed so long looking at
him that her mother said :

"You had better run on, or your little
friends will grow impatient waiting for
you, my dear. Put your Rabbit away, and
hurry along now.':

So Madeline put her Rabbit on a shelf
in the playroom, and went out to play, and

80 A CANDY RABBIT

her mother gave Joe money for pins,
needles and some court-plaster.

"Maybe I have good luck and make a
lot of money to-day, and then I buy Rosa
a nice Candy Rabbit for herself," the ped-
dler said to himself, as he went down the
street.

And, while I am about it, I might as
well tell you that Joe did buy Rosa a nice
Rabbit for herself. He took it home to her
that night, lifting it out of his basket and
putting it into her hands.

When the organ grinder's little girl
awakened and found that her peddler
uncle had gone, taking his basket and the
Rabbit she had put to sleep in it without
his knowledge, Rosa felt very bad. She
was sad as she gathered pennies for her
father that day.

But at night, when Uncle Joe came back
with a new Candy Rabbit, Rosa was happy

IN THE BATHTUB 81

again. And Madeline was happy with
her own Easter toy.

Rosa's uncle and her father told her it
was wrong to have taken another little
girl's toy without asking, and she was
sorry when she understood that, but she
was happy with her new plaything.

In the afternoon Mirabell and Dorothy
went home with Madeline.

"I want to show you my Candy Babbit
again," Madeline said to her little girl
chums.

And when Mirabell and Dorothy had
looked at the Rabbit, seeing the speck of
green paint on one ear and the other ear
that was a little bent from the heat, Made-
line said:

"I'm going to wash him I"

Without saying anything to her mother
about it, Madeline took her Candy Rab-
bit, and, with her two little friends, went

82 A CANDY RABBIT

up to the bathroom. She drew the tub
full of water, and while she was doing
this she set the Rabbit on a glass shelf near
the towel rack.

"Are you going to let him swim in the
bathtub?" asked Dorothy.

"Goodness me, I hope not!" thought
the Candy Rabbit, who heard this ques-
tion. "I can't swim! I'll surely drown
if she puts me in the bathtub !"

And he was glad when he heard Made-
line say:

"No, I'm not going to put him in the
tub. But I want plenty of water, for I
must get him nice and clean. I'm going
to have a party, and I want my Candy
Rabbit to look pretty. I'll dip my nail
brush in the bathtub and scrub him."

"And we'll help you," said Dorothy
and Mirabell.

"There, I guess I have water enough,"

IN THE BATHTUB 83

said Madeline, as she turned off the tub
faucet. There were some drops of water
on her hands, and she reached for a towel
to dry them.

How it happened none of the little girls
knew, but the towel on the rack must have
caught on the Candy Babbit, sitting on
the glass shelf. And when Madeline
pulled the towel she pulled her Easter toy
off the shelf and into the bathtub of water.

< ' Splish ! Splash ! ' ' went the Candy Bab-
bit into the water.

"Oh, I'm going to drown! I know I'm
going to drown!" thought the poor sweet
chap, as the water closed over his ears.

CHAPTER VIII

A WHEELBARROW

MADELINE screamed, Mirabell screamed,
and Dorothy screamed. The three little
girls screamed together when they saw
the Candy Rabbit fall into the bathtub.
And, even under water as his ears were,
the Candy Rabbit heard them.

"Well, I hope they do something more
than yell," thought the poor, sugary chap.
"If they don't pull me out pretty soon I'll
melt, as well as drown, and I dare not try
to swim when they're looking at me!"

You know what the rule is in Make-Be-
lieve Toyland — none of the things dare
move when human eyes look at them. And

84

IN A WHEELBARROW 85

the three little girls were surely looking
at the Candy Rabbit now, as he bobbed
about in the bathtub.

"Oh, look what happened I" cried
Dorothy, pointing to the toy.

"Your Candy Rabbit is in the bath-
tub!" screamed Mirabell.

"Yes, and I'm going to get him outl"
exclaimed Madeline.

She quickly stooped down, grasped the
Candy Rabbit by his ears, and lifted him,
dripping wet, out of the bathtub of water.

"Oh, he's soaked through, poor thing I"
murmured Dorothy.

"Do you s'pose he's spoiled?" asked
Mirabell.

"I — I hope not," said Madeline with a
catch in her voice, as if she were going to
cry. "I guess I got him out in time."

"I think so, too."

Madeline's mother, hearing the screams

86 A CANDY RABBIT

of the little girls in the bathroom, ran to
see what the matter was.

"Has anything1 happened, children?"
she asked.

"My Candy Rabbit got caught on th~e
towel and I pulled him into the bathtub of
water," Madeline explained. "Will he
come all to pieces, Mother?"

Mother looked at the Candy Rabbit
carefully. He did not seem to be harmed
much. Inside of him his heart was beat-
ing very fast, because of his adventure,
but no one knew that.

"I think he is not much damaged, Made-
line, ' ' said her mother, with a smile. 1 1 He
is made of very hard sugar — is your
Candy Rabbit. It would take more of a
soaking than he got to melt him. What
were you doing with him in the bath-
room?"

"I was going to wash him, Mother,

IN A WHEELBARROW 87

'cause maybe he got soiled in the peddler's
basket."

"Well, he has had his bath all right,"
said Mother, with a laugh. "And I think
he is pretty clean. He does not seem to
be melting any, but it would be well to let
him dry. Here, I'll set him on the win-
dow sill and open the window. The breeze
will dry him off better than if you wiped
him with a towel. Then you will not wipe
off any of his sugar. ''

"Oh, I'm so glad he is all right," said
Madeline. "I thought he would melt and
run down the drain pipe from the bath-
tub."

"Drain pipe!'1 The Rabbit shivered.

Mother set the Candy Rabbit, which'
was quite wet, on a clean cloth on the bath-
room window sill, leaving the sash open.

"The cloth will soak up some of the
water, and the gentle wind will blow the

A CANDY BABBIT

rest off and dry him," said Madeline's
mother.

The three little girls looked at the
Candy Babbit sitting on the sill of the
open window in the bathroom.

"Doesn't he look cute?" cried Made-
line.

"Too sweet for anything!" said
Dorothy.

"Of course he looks sweet!" said Mira-
bell. "He's made of sugar, you know!"

Then the three little girls laughed and
went downstairs to play with Dorothy's
Sawdust Doll and Mirabell's Lamb on
Wheels.

Left to himself on the window sill, the
Candy Rabbit took a long breath.

"That was a narrow escape I had," he
said. "I was very nearly drowned and
melted in the water. I had better keep
very still and quiet until I am quite dry;

IN A WHEELBARROW 89

again, or I may come apart like the Jack
in the Box who jumped off his spring.
Yes, I will sit here very quietly until I
am dry. I do feel so wet and sticky!"

The Candy Rabbit looked around the
bathroom. There was no other toy there
with whom he could play, even if he had
felt like moving around just then, which
he did not feel like doing.

"The Calico Clown and the Monkey on
a Stick will think it quite wonderful when
I tell them what has happened to me,"
said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he
sat there, drying. "I suppose they must
have had some adventures, also, but I
don't believe either of them ever fell into
a bathtub of water. >!

Feeling rather lonesome, the Rabbit
looked for some one to whom he might
talk. He saw cakes of soap, towels, and
wash cloths. There was also a large

90 A CANDY RABBIT

sponge in a wire basket hanging over the
edge of the bathtub.

"I have heard that sponges are ani-
mals," said the Candy Rabbit. "I won-
der if this one is alive and will speak to
me. I'll try. Hello there, Mr. Sponge!"
he called. ' ' You must be quite a swimmer.
Are you as good as a goldfish — one of those
the bad cat tried to get?"

But the sponge said never a word.
Maybe it was too dry to speak, for it
had not been in the water since early
morning.

The Candy Rabbit knew it was of no
use to talk to a cake of soap or a wash
cloth, so he became quiet and sat on the
window sill, drying off.

At first the wind, which came in through
the open bathroom window, drying the
Candy Rabbit, was a gentle breeze. Then
it began to blow harder, so hard, in fact,

- .

" Hello, Ther-, Mr. Sponge !" Said Candy Rabbit.

Page 90

IN A WHEELBARROW 91

that Herbert, Dick and Arnold got out
their kites and began flying them.

"Dear me! this wind is blowing harder
and harder," said the Candy Rabbit to
himself. "I hope I do not take cold
here."

Stronger and stronger the wind blew.
Part of the time it blew in through the
bathroom window, and part of the time it
blew out . And then, all of a sudden, there
came a hard gust, and it toppled the Candy
Rabbit right off the sill.

"Dear me, I am falling !" exclaimed the
Candy Rabbit. "Oh, I am falling out of
the window!'3

And this was true. He had fallen out
instead of falling in, and, in the end, this
was a good thing for him. For if he had
fallen inside the bathroom he would have
toppled down on the hard, tiled floor, and
have been broken to pieces. As it was,

92 A CANDY BABBIT

falling out of the window, he had a better
chance.

Down, down, down, out of the window
fell the Candy Rabbit. He fell so fast
that his breath was taken away. He felt
himself drying fast. The last drops of
water, caused by his topple into the bath-
tub, were blown off by the breeze as he
fell.

"Oh, when I hit the ground there is
going to be a terrible smash !" thought the
poor Candy Rabbit. "This, surely, is the
last of me! Good-bye, everybody !"

But, as it happened, just then Patrick:,
the gardener, was passing along with a
wheelbarrow full of freshly cut grass.
He had cut the lawn in front of the house
where Dorothy lived, and now Patrick was
wheeling the loose grass across Madeline's
yard to give to a pony in a stable in the
house just beyond Madeline's.

IN A WHEELBARROW 93

And, all of a sudden, just as Patrick
came along with the wheelbarrow full of
grass, the Candy Rabbit fell out of the
bathroom window. And, very, very
luckily, the sweet chap, instead of hitting
the ground, fell into the soft grass on the
wheelbarrow.

For a moment he could not get his
breath, and he was buried deep in the
long, green spears and stems. And then,
as he felt that he was not broken to bits,
the Candy Rabbit murmured:

"I am saved 1"

CHAPTER IX

AT THE PARTY

PATRICK, the gardener, had set his
wheelbarrow down to rest just as he came
under the bathroom window of Made-
line's house. And Patrick had his back
turned, and was looking at Carlo, the little
dog, chasing his tail just when the Candy
Rabbit fell into the grass. So Patrick did
not see what had happened.

"But I know what has happened,'1
said the sweet chap to himself. "Only for
the soft grass I would have broken all to
pieces! I wish I dared call out and tell
Patrick I am here. But I dare not. I
must keep still and say nothing."

94

AT THE PARTY 95

"Well, I must hurry along and give
this grass to the pony," said the gardener,
after he had seen Calico catch his tail.
"The pony must be hungry."

Over across Madeline's yard, to the
yard where the pony lived in a little stable,
went Patrick with the wheelbarrow full
of grass and the Candy Rabbit. Only, of
course, Patrick did not know he had the
sugary fellow.

"Well, how are you, little pony?" cried
the jolly Patrick, when he reached the
stable. The pony gave a soft little whinny
in answer.

"I have some nice grass for you," went
on Patrick. "Nice, sweet, green grass
that I, myself, cut off the lawn. You shall
eat it all up.?:

Once again the little horse talked in the
only way he could make Patrick under-
stand, which was by whinnying. He

96 A CANDY RABBIT

meant that he would be glad to eat the
grass.

"But I hope he doesn't eat me!"
thought the Candy Rabbit. "It is lucky I
can speak and understand animal talk.
When I get in the pony's stall 111 call out
and ask him not to chew me up with the
grass."

But the Candy Rabbit did not have to
do this. For when Patrick began to take
from the wheelbarrow the grass he had
gathered for the pony, the gardener saw
something gleaming in the sunshine amid
the green stems.

"Hello! what's this?" cried Patrick,
leaning over to take a better look.
"What's tills in my grass? Can it be a
glass bottle? If it is it's a good thing I
didn't give it to the pony, or he might
have cut himself on it."

Patrick took the shining object from the

AT THE PARTY 97

midst of the grass. In an instant he saw
what it was.

"A Candy Rabbit! Madeline's Candy
Rabbit I" cried the gardener. He knew it
very well, just as he knew the Sawdust
Doll, the Lamb on Wheels, and the Bold
Tin Soldier. Madeline had often showed
Patrick her Candy Rabbit.

The pony was soon fed, and then, with
the Candy Rabbit in his pocket and slowly
wheeling the empty barrow, Patrick made
his way to Madeline's house. He knocked
at the back door, and the cook, with a dab
of flour on her nose, answered.

"What have you been doing to your-
self, Cook?" asked the gardener, with a
laugh.

"Why? Is anything wrong?" she
asked, rather surprised.

"Your nose is dabbed with flour," went
on Patrick.

98 A CANDY RABBIT

"Oh, that!" laughed the cook. "You
see, Madeline is going to have a party, and
I'm so busy making cookies and cakes that
it's a wonder flour isn't all over my face
as well as on my nose. But what have
you there?" she asked, seeing the Bunny
in Patrick's hand.

"Madeline's Candy Rabbit," answered
the gardener. "I don't know how it got
in my barrow of grass, but I brought him
back. Is Madeline in?"

"Yes, I'll call her," said the cook.

And when the little girl came running
out and saw her Bunny, she was much sur-
prised.

"Why! Why! How did you get him,
Patrick?" she asked. "I left him up on
the bathroom window sill to dry, after he
fell into the bathtub."

"Ah, that accounts for it then!"
laughed the gardener. "The wind must

AT THE PARTY 99

have blown him out of the window, and
he fell into my barrow just as I set it down
to rest. Well, it's lucky I had grass in
the barrow instead of stones. If your
rabbit had fallen on them he might have
broken off his ears."

"That would have been dreadful!" ex-
claimed Madeline. "Oh, thank you, so
much, Patrick, for bringing my Bunny
back to me.r

"Well, keep him safe, now you have
him," advised Patrick.

Then he went off whistling and trund-
ling his empty wheelbarrow, and once
more the Candy Rabbit was back with
Madeline, where he belonged, and thank-
ful to be there.

"You are nice and dry now," said the
little girl, as she looked over her Easter
toy. "And you didn't get any more grass
stains on you when you fell out of the win-

994829A

100 A CANDY RABBIT

dow. Your ear it still a little bent, but
that only makes you look more stylish.

"Now I am going to put a new pink
ribbon on your neck, 'cause the one I took
off: when I was going to wash you is all
soiled. Ill put a new ribbon on you and
then you may come to the party to-mor-

row.'

Madeline told her mother how the Bab-
bit had fallen out of the window. Then
the little girl got a pretty pink ribbon,
and, after tying it on his neck, she again
showed her Easter present to Mirabell
and Dorothy.

"He looks as good as new," said Mira-
bell.

' ' Yes, ' ' agreed Dorothy. ' 1 1 guess fall-
ing into the bathtub and the wheelbarrow
of grass did him good."

"And well have lots of fun at the
party," said Madeline. "Now I will put

AT THE PARTY 101

my Rabbit away, and we'll get ready for
a good time.'1

The Rabbit was set on a shelf in a dark
closet.

"Well, goodness knows I am glad to be
by myself for a while and keep quiet,"
thought the sugary chap, as he sat down
on the shelf in the dark. "I have had
enough of adventures for a day or two.
I wonder if there is anv one here to whom

V

I can talk. I wish the Sawdust Doll or
the Bold Tin Soldier or the Calico Clown
were here. Thev would love to hear me

V

tell of what has happened."

Madeline and her girl friends spent the
rest of that day and part of the next one
getting ready for the party, and at last
the time came to have it. Madeline was
all dressed up, and she brought her Candy
Rabbit out of the closet and smoothed the
ribbon on his neck.

102 A CANDY RABBIT

' ' Tinkle ! Tinkle ! Tinkle ! ' ' rang the
door bell.

"Oh, here come Dorothy and Dick to
the party!'' cried Madeline, running to
meet her friends.

She carried the Candy Rabbit with her.
Dorothy had her Sawdust Doll, but the
White Rocking Horse was too large for
Dick to bring over.

One after another more children came
to the party, among them Mirabell and
Arnold. Mirabell did not bring her
Lamb on Wheels for the same reason that
Dick left his Horse at home — the Lamb
was a little too large for a house party,
though she would fit very well on the lawn.

But Arnold, who was Mirabell 's broth-
er, brought something to the party. It
was the Bold Tin Soldier — the Captain
of the Tin Soldiers, of whom Arnold had
a whole box. And while the little girls

AT THE PARTY 103

who had come to Madeline's party were
smoothing out their dresses and looking
at their dolls and talking to one another,
Arnold walked off with Dick to a corner
of the room.

"Look what I have!'1 whispered Ar-
nold, showing the Bold Tin Soldier.

"Why did you bring him?" Dick
wanted to know.

"So if we don't like the games the girls
play we can go off in a room by ourselves
and have fun with my Soldier," was the
answer. "But maybe we'll have some
fun, anyhow. J:

"Let me hold your Soldier for a while,"
begged Dick, and Arnold handed over the
Captain.

After a while the little boys went back to
where the other children were and all
began to play games. Madeline set her
Candy Rabbit on the table near Dorothy's

104 A CANDY BABBIT

Sawdust Doll, and the two toys looked at
each other.

All sorts of games were played. One
was "hide the thimble/' and when it was
Madeline's turn to hide it she put it right
between the front legs of her Candy Rab-
bit as he sat on the table. Not one of the
boys or girls thought of looking there for
it, so they had to give up, and it was Made-
line's turn to hide it again.

This time she put the thimble on top
of the head of Dorothy's Sawdust Doll,
who had on a new blue ribbon in honor of
the party.

It was a gold thimble that the children
were playing with, and the Sawdust Doll,
catching sight of her reflection in the glass
over one of the pictures in the room, noted
this fact.

"That golden gleam against the blue of
my ribbon is certainly very pretty and be-

AT THE PARTY 105

coming," she thought. "I hope Dorothy
will notice it and will get a gold ornament
for my hair. I like to be a toy, but some-
times it is a great nuisance not to be able
to tell your little girl and boy parents
what you would like to have them do.r

All this time the children were hunting
for the thimble, and, though it was in plain
sight, it was not until some time afterward
that Mirabell saw it.

After the thimble game the children
played "Blind Man's Buff," "Puss in
the Corner" and "Going to Jerusalem. r

Pretty soon it was time to eat ice cream
and cake. That is one of the nicest times
at a party, I think ; and Dick, Arnold and
Herbert, as well as the other boys and
girls, thought the same thing, I am sure.
While they were in another room, eating
the good things, the Candy Rabbit and the
Sawdust Doll were left to themselves.

106 A CANDY RABBIT

"I have been wanting to talk to you for
the longest time!" said the Sawdust Doll.

"And I have so many things to tell
you," said the Candy Rabbit. "Such re-
markable adventures!"

He started to hop across the table, to
get nearer to the Sawdust Doll, but he did
not see the thimble which the children had
been playing with, and which had been
left on the table. The Candy Rabbit
jumped on the thimble, which rolled out
from under his paws.

"Oh, look out! You're going to fall!"
cried the Sawdust Doll.

And down fell the Candy Rabbit.

Candy Rabbit Has a Tumble.

Page IQJ

CHAPTER X

IN A BOY'S POCKET

"ARE you hurt?" asked the Sawdust
Doll anxiously, looking with sympathy at

the Candy Babbit. "Let me help you
up!"

"Oh, thank you, I can get up myself/'
answered the sugary chap. "And I am
not at all hurt. The table cloth was soft."

He was just going to get up and hop
over to the Doll when, all at once, the Saw-
dust toy exclaimed :

"Be quiet! Here come the children
back!"

And into the room trooped the boys and
girls, having finished eating the ice cream
and cake.

107

108 A CANDY RABBIT

"Oh, look at my Bunny!" cried Made-
line. "Somebody jiggled him over on his
side."

She set him up straight again, near the
Sawdust Doll, and then she helped the
other children have fun in more games.
After a while Dick and Arnold went off in
a corner by themselves, and began play-
ing with Arnold's Bold Tin Soldier.
While they were doing this a boy named
Tom saw them.

"I wonder what they are doing?"
thought Tom. "I wonder what they are
looking at? It's something Arnold has
in his pocket. I wish I had something in
my pocket to play with. Maybe I can find
something ! ' :

I am sorry to say Tom was not always
a good boy. Sometimes he was cross and
unpleasant. He would pull the hair of
little girls, though I hardly believe he

IN A BOY'S POCKET 109

meant to hurt them. He only did it to
tease them.

Tom saw Madeline's Candy Rabbit on
the table, and, as the other boys and girls
were just then in another room, no one
saw what Tom did. Sneaking up to the
table, Tom reached over, took the Candy
Rabbit, and put him in his pocket.

"Now I have something to play with,"
whispered Tom to himself.

Tom had many other things in his

•/

pocket. There was a small rubber ball,
some pieces of string, a broken knife, two
or three nails, some round, shiny pieces
of tin, a whistle that wouldn't whistle, a
red stone, a yellow stone, and many other
odds and ends. Down among these ob-
jects the Candy Rabbit was pushed and
jammed.

The only ones who saw Tom hurry away
with the Candy Rabbit were the little

110 A CANDY RABBIT

girls' dolls. The Sawdust Doll, a Cellu-
loid Doll belonging to Mirabell, and an old
snub-nosed Wooden Doll, that Madeline
had brought down from the attic, were on
the table when Tom took the Candy Rab-
bit away in his pocket.

"Oh-oo-o-oh!': exclaimed the Sawdust
Doll. " Look at him!"

"Isn't he terrible!'' said the Wooden
Doll.

' * If we could only do something to stop
him ! ' ' sighed the Celluloid Doll. But they
could do nothing.

Watching his chance, Tom hurried out
of Madeline's house, carrying with him
the Easter present. And as for the poor
Candy Rabbit, he did not know what to
do. He could not get out of that boy's
pocket, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'll show this Candy Rabbit to Sam
and Pete," said Tom to himself, as he

A BOY'S POCKET 111

hurried down the street. "We'll have
some fun with it. ' ;

Sam and Pete were two boys with whom
Tom played. Tom looked for them as he
ran down the street, the Candy Rabbit
jiggling around among the things in his
pocket.

"I hope my ears aren't broken off,"
sighed the poor Bunny. ' ' This is the most
dreadful and cramped place I was ever

in.'

Suddenly Tom spied his two chums.

' ' Hi there ! " he called to them. ' ' Look
what I got!"

"What?"

He took the Candy Rabbit from his
pocket and held him up.

"That's a dandy!" exclaimed Pete.

" Where 'd you get him?" asked Sam.

"Oh, I borrowed him at a party,'1 Tom
answered.

112 A CANDY RABBIT

"Let's see it closer," begged Sam, and
Tom handed over the Candy Rabbit.

«/

"Why, he's good to eat!" cried Sam,
when he had the Rabbit in his hands.
"He's made of sugar, and he's good to
eat!"

Tom looked at Sam and then at Pete.
Then all three of the boys looked at each
other.

"I — I'm sort of hungry for candy,'3
said Pete, in a low voice.

"So'm I," admitted Sam.

"And I guess I am, too,'1 declared
Tom. "I didn't know this Rabbit was
good to eat. But, as long as he is, we'll
divide him up and have a regular party.
Come on over on my porch, fellows, and
we'll eat the Candy Rabbit!"

Now, when the sweet chap heard this
he was very much frightened. Of all his
adventures this seemed the verv worst I

IN A BOY'S POCKET 113

Over to Tom's porch went the three
boys, and they sat down.

"We'll divide this Candy Rabbit into
three pieces," said Tom. He was just
going to break off one of the ears when
some one came out of the house and up
behind the boys as they sat on the steps.

"What have you there, Tom?" asked
a voice suddenly.

The three chums turned around. It
was Tom's mother who had spoken.

"Oh, it's just a Candy Rabbit," Tom
answered. "We're going to eat him.'1

"Where did you get him?" asked Tom's
mother. "Let me see.':

And when she saw the Candy Rabbit
Tom's mother knew at once that it was no
common Rabbit, such as you may buy in
the five-and-ten-cent store. The Candy
Rabbit was a very fancy fellow indeed !

"Why, Tom!" exclaimed his mother.

114 A CANDY RABBIT

"This Rabbit belongs to Madeline. I saw
it over at her house when I called there
one day. Did you take Madeline's Rabbit
when you were in her house at the party ?
Oh, Tom, what a naughty boy! I am so
sorry I"

She reached over and took the Candy
Rabbit just in time, for Tom had been
going to break off the ears.

"Why did you take it?" asked Tom's
mother.

"Oh, er — just — because," he answered,
squirming around. "Dick and Arnold
had something, and I wanted something in
my pocket. So I took the Rabbit."

"I must take it back and tell Madeline
you are sorry, and you must tell her so
yourself the next time you see her," said
Tom's mother.

Tom's mother took the Easter toy back
to Madeline, who had just missed him, and

IN A BOY'S POCKET 115

she and all the boys and girls still left at
the party were hunting for him.

"Please forgive Tom for being so
naughty as to take your Candy Babbit,"
begged the boy's mother, and *Madeline
said she would.

"Oh, I am so glad to have you back I"
cried Madeline, hugging her Candy Rab-
bit.

"And I am glad to get back," said the
Rabbit, though of course he dared not
speak aloud.

Madeline smoothed out the pink ribbon
on the Bunny's neck. It had been
crumpled in Tom 's pocket. Then the little
girl put her Rabbit away on a shelf in a
closet while she helped her mother and
the cook clear away the things after the
party.

"Dear me, I wonder what will happen
next," said the Candy Rabbit, out loud,

116 A CANDY RABBIT

for he knew no one could hear him in
there.

"Why, has anything happened to you?"
asked a voice.

"I should say so !" exclaimed the Candy
Rabbit. "But who are you, if I may
ask?"

"Oh, I'm a match-safe Cat,': was the
answer, and then, his eyes having become
used to the dark, the Candy Rabbit saw
that he was sitting near a hollow porce-
lain Cat, used to hold burnt matches.

"Dear me, how strange ! ' ' murmured the
Bunny.

"It is no stranger to see a Cat full of
burnt matches than it is to see a Candy
Rabbit with pink glass eyes, ' ' was the an-
swer.

"I suppose not," agreed the Candy
Bunny.

Then the Rabbit and the Cat became

IN A BOY'S POCKET 117

good friends and told each other stories
there in the dark closet.

"My! you certainly have had some ad-
ventures," mewed the Cat, when she had
heard about the Bunny's trip on the tail
of a kite.

"Did nothing exciting ever happen to
vouf" the Rabbit wanted to know.

•/

"Yes, once," replied the Cat. "I am
hollow, as you see, and I am generally
filled with burnt wooden matches.

"Well, one day, somebody put a blazing
match in me by mistake, and, in an in-
stant, all the partly burnt matches were
on fire. There I was, all burning up in-
side."

"Oh, that must have been dreadful!'1
cried the Candy Rabbit.

"It was, until Madeline's mother threw
a glass of water over me and put out the
fire," said the Cat, "Then I was all

118 A CANDY RABBIT

right, except for being blackened and
smoked. Of course it doesn't show in the
dark, but it's there all the same.':

The Candy Rabbit stayed in the closet
with the Porcelain Cat all night, and the
two were company for one another. The
next day Madeline took her Easter toy for
a ride in the doll carriage, and Dorothy
had her Sawdust pet with her. The little
girls talked about the party.

"Wouldn't it have been dreadful if
Tom had eaten your Rabbit?" asked
Dorothv.

*/

"Terribly dreadful!" said Madeline.'
"I am glad it didn't happen.'1

"And I'm glad, too," thought the Candy
Rabbit. "I hope my adventures are over

now.'

But they were not, though I have no
room to tell you any more. I will just
mention a few. Once Herbert and Dick

IN A BOY'S POCKET 119

took the Candy Rabbit and gave him a
ride in Herbert's toy train of cars. But
the engine went so fast that the train ran
off the track. The Candv Rabbit was

•i

thrown off, and a little piece of sugar was
chipped off one of his paws. But that did
not hurt very much.

And, another time, the Candy Rabbit
was almost run over by Dick, who was
gliding around on roller skates. Only that
Patrick, the gardener, caught the Bunny
out of the way just in time, the sweet
chap would have been crushed.

One day Herbert called to Madeline
and said :

" Daddy is going to bring me a present
from the store to-day.'

V

1 ' Is he ? What kind ? ' ' asked Madeline.
Is it going to be a Jumping Jack?"

That, or something just as funny, r
Herbert answered. "I want something

tl

it

120 A CANDY RABBIT

that moves and jumps. Candy Rabbits are
very nice, but I want something livelier."

"Will you let me see it when you get
it?" asked his sister.

"Yes," promised Herbert. And what
fun he had with his toy will be told to you
in the next book, to be called: "The Story
of a Monkey on a Stick.'1

As for the Candy Rabbit, I might add
that he grew sweeter and sweeter each day,
and he and Madeline lived happily for-
ever after. Though" one of his ears was
bent, and a piece chipped off one paw, that
did not matter. Madeline loved her
Bunny very much.

THE END

THE STORY LADY SERIES

By GEORGENE FAULKNER

Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself

What child does not love to hear again and again these
charming and thrilling tales that have been handed down
through the ages from generation to generation — the best
liked and the most famous of the world's myths, legends
and fairy lore about animals, birds, witches, fairies, giants,
dwarfs and beloved heroes and heroines from many dif-
ferent countries. These are the stories that children read
and re-read with wonder and delight. In these volumes
they are told in simple, charming language by Georgene
Faulkner, known by thousands of youngsters and grown-
ups as " The Story Lady."

THE STORY LADY BOOKS
SQUEAKY AND THE SCARE BOX
THE FLYING SHIP
THE SNOW MAIDEN
THE GOLDEN FISH
THE GINGERBREAD BOY
THE THREE BEARS
THE LITTLE RED HEN AND THE FOX

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK

THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS

By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE

Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by
WALTER S. ROGERS

Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to
know her is to take her to your heart at once.

Little girls everywhere will want to discover what inter-
esting experiences she is having wherever she goes.

HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP TO THE GREAT LAKES

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP IN AN AIRPLANE

HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE ZOO

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

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